What
is radiation and where
does extreme energy come from
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Alpha |
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| Radiation frequencies penetrate matter to varying extents. | Types of radiation. |
fundamental forces | radiation | atomic decay | light | atoms | a spectrum | ecology
The Electro-Weak and strong nuclear forces –two of the three fundamental unversal forces– give rise to energy
We call this emission of energy, radiation. Photons are this radiation.
Hydrogen atom: the proton (+) and the electron (-) exchange a photon, the frequency of which we can read as the hydrogen atoms' spectrum.
fundamental forces | radiation | atomic decay | light | atoms | a spectrum | ecology
What is radiation?
Dutch natural philosopher, Christian Huygens, disputed Newton's ideas that light consisted of corpuscles or particles. Huygens suggested instead that light was composed of waves.
Christian Huygens thought that light was caused by the movement of waves.
But quantum mechanics has suggested that the lightquantum is a particle that behaves like waves; light is both a wave and a particle.
fundamental forces | radiation | atomic decay | light | atoms | a spectrum | ecology
Two centuries later radiation was discovered and radiation can be thought of as weaving waves engendering the fabric of the universe because light is a very small slice of the electromagnetic spectrum of radiation.
fundamental forces | radiation | atomic decay | light | atoms | a spectrum | ecology
This electromagnetic spectrum distinguishes energy by measuring the frequency (Hz) of the waves of radiation representing the amount of force generated by atoms of different elements contained in compounds and molecules. The shorter the wavelength of radiation the more energy is emitted and received by contrast with longer wavelengths that emit less force.
The chart starts at the top with high energy:
The chart ends with lower amounts of energy.
fundamental forces | radiation | atomic decay | light | atoms | a spectrum | of amounts | ecology
radiant energy or light originates from atomic nuclei as energy is absorbed or released.
decays into 
An atom and its electron shells
Murray Gell Mann | Albert Einstein | Stephen Hawking | Richard Feynman
fundamental forces | radiation | atomic decay | light | atoms | a spectrum | ecology
Ecology of practical energy transfer through a living system
Man is not the measure of all things, just some things.
fundamental forces | radiation | atomic decay | light | atoms | a spectrum | ecology
Nature, an Index to other related pages
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